matthews and c



c. MATTHEWS AND c.- S. HALL.

AEROPLAN E.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 24, 1918.

Patentd June 24, 1919.

'2 suns-sum y,

INVENTORS,

C. MATTHEWS AND C. S. HALL.

AEROPLANE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 24. I918.

"Patented J 11116-24, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

I ve UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHRIS MATTHEWS, OF SAN PEDRO, AND CHARLES S. HALL, OF LOS ANGELES,

- CALIFORNIA.

AEROPLANE.

' Specification of Letters Patent. Patented J 119 24, 1919 Applicationfiled October 24, 1918. Serial No. 259,488.

for aeroplanes in the form of a lifting or stabilizing device. I

An object of our invention is to provide an attachment for aeroplaneswhich will enable the machine to rise more directly from the ground thanis possible with aeroplanes as presently equipped' Another object is toprovide a stabilizer for an aeroplane in case one of its Wings becomesbroken. 1 i

Another object is to provide a retarding device by means of which thelighting of an aeroplane may be more easily and-more safely effected.

With these and other objects in view our invention consists in theconstruction, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter describedand claimed.

In the accompanying drawings which form a part of this specification,

Figure 1 is a plan view of an aeroplane with its right wing brokenaway,,showing the arrangement of our lifting device as seen from above.

Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation of the machine shown in Fig. 1 with apart of the body shell broken away to show the connec tions between thelifting propeller and the engine, and also their position in theaeroplane.

Fig. 3 is a reduced view of the aeroplane shown in Fig. 2 illustratingthe action of the propellers and the air currents produced by them.,

Fig. 4c is a view in front elevation of the aeroplane shown in Fig. 1,looking in the direction indicated by arrow 4 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view on the line 5-5 ofFigs. 1 and 4.

Fig. 6 is a still further enlarged sectional view taken on the line 6-6of Fig. 5 and showing the mechanism for tilting the planes endwise.

The aeroplane shown in the drawings represents a common form having abody 10, a propeller ll, wing planes 1.2 and 13 and the usual guidingplanes. An engine 14 is fixed to the forward part of the body shell andthe propeller 11 mounted on the forward end of the shaft in the usualway. The engine shaft-hasan extension 15 on its rear end and to thisextension is connected, by a'universal coupling 16, a rearwardlyextending shaft 17.. The rear end of the shaft 17 1s journa-led in abracket 18 fixed to the floor of the body shell and has a miter gear 19keyed on its'extreme'rear end. A companion miter gear 20 is fixed to avertical shaft 21 which has its lower end journaled in the bracket 18.The vertical shaft 21 extends upwardly through the top of the body shelland has fixed to its upper end outside the shell, a propeller 22,thenpper end of thevertical shaft 21 being journaled in a thrust bearing23 fixed in the roof of the sh'ell. The pro: peller 22 is so placed thatit is above the center of gravity of the aeroplane as a Whole, and atthe same time its shaft approximately coincides with the longitudinalbalancing point of the machine, so that in flying the upward lift orpull is such as to hold the aeroplane in an approximately horizontalposition vWithout any tendency to tip endwlse.

Attached to the vertical struts 24 and 25 on each side of the aeroplanebody by means of arms 26, 27, 28 and 29 are two swivel members 30 and 31which surround-the acreplane body and in which the aeroplane body isadapted to turn. Each of the swivel members consists of twovertical,.;.ring plates 32 and 33 held in parallel relation to eachother by a series of spool shaped rollers 34 mount ed between them onpivot pins 35 which extend through the rollers and ring lates. The endsof the pivot pins are fixed 1n the ring plates so as to hold them infixed relation to each other, and the rollers are adapted to turn on thepivot pins in engagement with a'beaded ring 36 .fixed around the-body ofthe aeroplane. A segment of the upper part of the forward beaded ring iscut away to provide for an arcuate rack 37 which is tends rearwardly andis journaled in an" instrument board 42 extending across the body shell.A hand wheel 43 is fixed on the rearmost end of shaft 40 in a positioneasily accessible to the aeronaut when in the seat 44 of the aeroplane.A rack slot 45 is cut in the body shell to provide for the rack and itsmovements in relation to the body.

()peration: As readily may be seen the engine drives both propellerssimultaneously and the front propeller operates to pull the machineforwardly While the top propeller at right angles to it operates to liftthe machine straight upwardly. There are, therefore, two forces at rightangles to each other, the resultant of which is a force acting betweenthem along the line roughly indicated by arrow a. In other words, asshown in Fig. 3, the air currents produced by the vertical andhorizontal propellers, interfere and take a direction indicated by arrow'-b, and the reaction of this resultant current lifts the machine in thedirection indicated by arrow a. Inmaking a turn it is desirable to tiltthe planes endwise while the body is maintained in its upright positionbecause of the gyroscopic stabllizing action of the rapidly revolvinghorizontal propeller. In order to do this the hand wheel l3 is operatedto turn shaft 41 and the bevel gear 39 which engages with the rack teeth38. The ring plates 32 and 33 of the swivel members 30 and 31 are thuspulled around on the body shell, the rollers 34: of the swivel memberstraveling on the beaded ring 36. The planes 12 and 13 which are rigidlyattached to the ring plates 32 and 33 by arms 26, 27, 28 and 29 movewith the ring plates, so that their ends on one side of the body areraised while those on the other side are lowered.

It is evident that the combined effect of the two propellers is to liftthe aeroplane much more directly upward than is possible with onepropeller. The ascent can therefore be made much more quickly with thelifting propeller. It is evident also that in descending, though thespeed of the propellers will necessarily be reduced, the liftingpropeller will revent the machine from falling as rapi ly' as itotherwise would, and consequently the descent can be made more easilyand safely. The rapid rotation of the lifting ropeller in a horizontalplane, also acts on the principle of a gyroscope to stabilize themachine for which reason the mechanism for tilting the planes is adesirable, if not a necessary, provision for safety and convenientmanagement of the machine in making turns.

l Vhile we have shown the preferred construction of our liftingpropeller in its application to an aeroplane, it will be understood thatvarious changes in construction and arrangement of parts may be made bythose skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of ourinvention as claimed.

We claim:

1. The combination with an aeroplane, having a body equipped with anengine and wing planes of a lifting propeller comprising, an extensionshaft adapted to be coupled to the aeroplane engine shaft, a verticalshaft adjacent said extension shaft, a bearing bracket in which saidextension shaft and vertical shaft are journaled, a lifting propellerfixed to-the upper end of said vertical shaft and a steering devicecomprising swivel members each of which include a roove ring providedwith rollers which are fixed to the win planes and a beaded ring fixedto the body of the aeroplane in cooperative relation with the groovedring, an arcuate rack fixed in one of the grooved rings, a shaftadjacent said arcuate rack, a bevel gear fixed on the end of said shaftin operative relation with said rack, and a hand wheel fixed to theopposite end of said shaft, said lifting propeller operating to lift theaeroplane and said steering device being adapted to tilt the wing planeslongitudinally in cooperation with said lifting propeller when making aturn.

2. In an aeroplane, an aeroplane body, swivel members connected to theaeroplane body, wing planes connected to the swivel members, each ofsaid swivel members including a grooved ring provided with rollers fixedto the wing planes, fixed to the body in coiiperative relation with thegrooved ring, an arcuate rack fixed in one of the grooved rings, a shaftadjacent said arcuate rack, a bevel gear fixed on the end of the shaftin operative relation with the rack, and a hand wheel fixed to theopposite end of the shaft.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification.

CHRIS MATTHEWS. CHARLES S. HALL.

a beaded ring

